It has long been desirable to have a removable auxiliary lens assembly attached to eyeglasses. Professional baseball players have used “flip-up” auxiliary lenses for more than four decades to protect their eyes from the sun, but to allow them unrestricted vision in the event the ball was hit in their vicinity.
Furthermore, eyewear has been provided with removable (and fixed) safety shields that convert conventional prescription eyewear into safety glasses. Removable safety shields permit the wearer to avoid the inconvenience of wearing safety glasses over prescription eyewear. Examples of removable safety shields for use with conventional eyewear are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,864, Aug. 6, 1996 to Hirschman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,351, Aug. 20, 1996 to Hirschman et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,278, May 5, 1998 to Simmons, Sr. All of these patents disclose variations on safety or side shields that can be removably attached to conventional eyewear, thus “con verting” the conventional eyewear into safety glasses.
None of these designs, however, permits the attachment of conventional auxiliary or “clip-on” or “flip-up” lenses to the eyewear in addition to the safety shield. Thus, if sunglasses are worn, the eyewear with safety shields must be removed and conventional safety glasses worn over the conventional sunglasses. Alternatively, two sets of these safety shields (one for prescription eyewear, one for sunglasses) could be employed.
A need exists, therefore, for safety shields for conventional eyewear that also permit the use of auxiliary lenses.
A primary advantage of the present invention is that it provides an eyewear assembly with safety shields that is adapted to receive auxiliary lens assemblies.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the eyewear assembly comprises a primary lens assembly including a primary frame that secures a pair of primary lenses in position relative to one another. A pair of extensions is provided, each of the extensions positioned on an outer periphery of the primary frame. An arm is connected to each extension by a hinge. A safety shield is carried by the eyewear assembly and extends around a portion of the periphery of one of the primary lenses and extends longitudinally along one of the arms, wherein an open space between the primary lens, the arm, and an eye of the wearer is substantially enclosed. The safety shield has an aperture formed therein that extends from the primary lens rearward proximal the hinge, wherein the aperture is adapted to receive a portion of an auxiliary lens assembly.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the safety shield is formed of transparent, rigid polymeric material.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a safety shield is associated with each primary lens and arm of the eyewear assembly.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the aperture is a rectangular notch that is open at an end proximal the primary lens.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the safety shield is secured to the eyewear assembly by sliding fit between a longitudinal channel in the safety shield and the arm and a screw between the channel and the arm.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the safety shield may be regarded as a separate accessory or as part of an eyewear assembly.
Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. As referred to hereinabove, the “present invention” refers to one or more embodiments of the present invention which may or may not be claimed, and such references are not intended to limit the language of the claims, or to be used to construe the claims in a limiting manner.